Chapter 27
What did Aileen mean?
Kyla’s mind went blank as she heard Aileen’s words, and she panicked.
“Naomi! Mom!”
She pounced at the Parrish family, trying to grab someone’s hand.
But she failed.
Holding Aileen. Naomi stepped aside imperceptibly.
“How could you do this to me? I can’t go to jail! Why should I go to jail?”
Kyla kept shaking her head and turned to plead with Samuel, begging, “Dad! Dad, say something, Dad!”
Samuel always pampered her; he’d say yes to her every request as long as she acted cute or shed a few tears.
“Enough!” Samuel snapped. “We could overlook your minor mistakes. But now, you’ve gone so far as to harm Grace! You took advantage of our love for you and manipulated us at will. Why bother pretending now?”
His face was filled with anger and disappointment.
“After Grace came back, Aileen and I didn’t treat you poorly just because she’s our biological daughter. Instead, we kept her at a distance because we didn’t wanna hurt your feelings. But no. It wasn’t enough for you. You even went so far as to do such horrifying things!”
He had dominated the business world for decades, yet in the end, he wast deceived by Kyla, the daughter he had raised for twenty–seven years.
He was furious. “I guess our affection for you means nothing to you. Fine.
We won’t give a damn about you anymore. I’ll just regard all thou. Fine.
time and energy we put into you over these twenty–seven years as nothing but a nightmare.”
His voice turned deeper as he continued, “Get out. The housekeeper will toss all your things out. From now on, you have nothing to do with us.”
Kyla was stunned.
She hadn’t expected Samuel to be so cold–hearted.
She burst into laughter, saying hysterically, “Oh, so it’s all my fault now? Grace is your family. She’s related to you by blood. But how did you treat her? You never cared about her and never trusted her. Is that my fault, too? Don’t blame me for your own stupidity.
“You deserve it! And Grace deserves it, too!” she screamed.
A crisp sound rang out.
Aileen, who doted on Kyla the most, slapped Kyla’s face hard.
With red eyes, Aileen said, “Samuel and I failed to raise you properly. and now, we’re gonna go atone for our sins. You must do the same.
“Mr. Kaufman, thanks for handling these two matters for the time being. We’ll also send someone to look for Grace, too. Rest assured; we’ll do what needs to be done.”
Aileen wiped her tears away.
Heartbroken as she was, she pulled herself together.
“OK.” Antonio said concisely.
After the Parrish family left, only Antonio and Kyla were in the ward.
“I know you don’t want to die. Don’t bother using suicide to attract attention or sympathy. As you can see, no one will fall for that anymore. Tell me everything you did to Grace over the years.”
He looked at her. “Then I may consider making your time behind bars easier.”
Half an hour later, Antonio walked out of the ward.
The recording pen in his pocket contained Kyla’s confession of all the things she had done to Grace over the years.
His heartache was killing him.
He dreaded to think how Grace had endured all this alone for so many
years.
It had been snowing a lot in Osmal City lately.
He reached out, catching the snowflakes.
“Grace, where are you?”
He murmured to himself.
申車車
In Clastein, Grace sat on an open–air balcony, gazing at the sparkling sea
under the bright sunlight.
A sea breeze drifted by.
Chapter 27
13
She stood up and walked into the room, taking out her paints and canvas.
At the orphanage, she had learned to paint from the director for nearly a decade until the director passed away.
Back then, she was hard up, but she was much happier at that time than when she lived with the Parrish family.
Just then, she received a message.
It was from Violet.
“How are you doing over there? Antonio and your family have been looking for you, but I keep my mouth shut.”